


Hallelujah

by doylesmom



Series: Gift Fics [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Gift Fic, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-07 22:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doylesmom/pseuds/doylesmom
Summary: Love is not a victory march/It's a cold and it's a broken HallelujahorByleth prepares to get married, and Dimitri reflects on their past.





	Hallelujah

**Author's Note:**

> Me (1:34 AM): Pro tip: don't listen to Hallelujah while thinking about Dimitri and Dimileth unless you want ALL OF THE EMOTIONS
> 
> B (2:20 AM): Shit. Fuck. Shit fuck fuck shit fuck.
> 
> ((Happy Birthday B))!
> 
> Robin you are the beta to end all betas.

> _My Beloved,_
> 
> _ Although it has been mere hours since I have seen you last, my heart longs for you all the same. _

Annette coos in delight at the sight of her former teacher as she walks in the room, her arms filled with a mountain of lace. Byleth shifts in her chair, flushing at the attention and trying not to disturb the verifiable team of stylists attempting to tame her unruly mint hair.

> _ I hope you will indulge my sentimentality for a moment. As the moments creep by until I am graced by your presence once more, I cannot help but to reminisce upon our journey together over the past few years. Feel free to cast this letter away should you so choose, but if you would allow me to indulge myself for just a moment, I’d like to journey with you once more through our past. _

“Lady Byleth, please stop fidgeting so,” a maid gently chides. Ingrid chuckles from her seat by the window at the admonition, twisting her own ring around and around her finger. Byleth envies her for a brief moment. She’s not sure she and Dimitri could have gotten away with eloping like Ingrid and Sylvain had- the thought of Seteth’s reaction alone was enough to make her shudder- but at times like this she almost wishes that they had just done it anyways. A royal wedding to remember, indeed.

> _ Perhaps it is gauche to say so, but the moment that most clearly resonates in my mind when I consider our past is the day of what would have been the Millenium Festival. The day when I sat at the top of that same tower in which I had first thought I loved you so many years before. The day when you came back to haunt me. The day that I- bloodstained and mad, unwashed, hungry, and so horrifically broken by Edelgard and her forces that I was no longer a man, but rather a beast in man's clothing- saw you for the first time in five years. _
> 
> _ It shames me to say so, but until I saw you kill the first bandit, I thought you an apparition. Truly, I was not convinced until the others arrived and saw you as well. Even now I sometimes wonder if it all hasn't been some fantastic dream. But I am certain that I could never have dreamed what we have done, what we have built. My imagination is not that good, after all. _

"Why professor, look at you, all dolled up and fancy," Dorothea croons as she and Bernadetta stride into the room. They carry a behemoth creation of white and gold between the two of them, barely managing to avoid dragging it on the ground below. Annette, Ingrid, and Mercedes all rush to help, their excitement when the dress is laid out in all of its glory so palpable Byleth swears she feels the air vibrate.

> _ I hope I do not cause you any offense with my next statement, but I do not believe any normal person would have done what you did that day, my beloved. Men twice your size and age had seen me as I was then and run. But not you. You, for whom I had once harbored a school boy's crush. You, my stalwart mentor. You, my confidant and cherished friend. You did not turn away. You did not run. You did not even flinch at the carnage surrounding me. But rather you- warm and glorious you- reached into the darkness and offered me my salvation in the form of your open hand. _

It is cold in Fhirdiad this time of year. Not yet the biting, angry cold of the Ethereal Moon, nor the fading chill of the Great Tree Moon, but the crisp sting of the fastly approaching winter. It is only the first day of the Wyvern Moon, but already frost layers the land. Byleth has a fairly decent tolerance for the chill, but her dress ensures that she will stay warm and safe throughout the entire day. The gown itself is as white as freshly fallen snow, high neck and billowing sleeves. The bodice is adorned with thousands of glittering gold crystals that flow into an elegant floral damask on the voluminous skirt below. Her hair is piled high on her head, twisted through itself in a design so intricate Byleth is sure she could never recreate it on her own. The various powders and cremes painted upon her face make her glow and the thought of what is to come flushes her cheeks. She looks alive. She feels alive. It is almost too much. 

> _ I had thought you perfect, once. That was a lifetime ago, back when you were our beloved Professor who could do no wrong. I thought of you as being akin to the Goddess herself, even before I knew what I know now. You were unreachable, untouchable. I was the one who had placed you upon that pedestal, although I would not be aware of it until much later, but I worshiped at your altar nonetheless. I thought you were perfect. I thought I knew everything about you, about loving you. _
> 
> _ And then you returned and I discovered that I did not know you at all. You came back, and suddenly you were flawed. Impatient, sarcastic, too stubborn for your own good, and worst of all you were hopeful. You looked at the hell that we were living in and you had the audacity to see the light in the dark, the good in the bad, the beauty in a world determined to fester in its own ugliness. You saw who I was, and you saw who I could be, and you, my darling, my light in the dark, my good in the bad, you reached out a hand to me and grasped my heart so gently it made me weep. _

A warm fur of pale gold is placed around her shoulders, startling Byleth out of her reverie. Mercedes adjusts it, humming so quietly to herself that Byleth almost wonders if she's imagining it. Her smile is beatific, and she gives Byleth's hands a firm grasp when she is finished.

"Don't worry, Professor," she says in her soft voice, eyes shining with pride, "We're here for you."

> _ I was a cruel man, then. I will not hide from that truth. I hurt you, and I hurt our dear friends. I used my pain as both a weapon and an excuse, not caring who or what I destroyed, so long as I could march unendingly towards my goal. I brandished the jagged edges of my cold and broken soul and tore into those around me with the fervor of a beast. That they remain my friends- that you still chose to be with me anyways- is a miracle that I will praise the Goddess for for the rest of my living days. _
> 
> _ And then came the death of Rodrigue. Had you not been there I shudder to think of what would have become of me, of my Kingdom, of my people. In that moment, teetering on the precipice, you once more reached out to me and drew me in close, away from the darkness that threatened to swallow me whole. You placed a gentle hand upon my cheek and in that moment a spark bloomed within what I had once thought dead. _

A knock sounds at the door. Catherine pokes her head in, beaming and resplendent in her freshly polished armor.

"Lady Byleth," she greets, "Sorry to bother you, but we need to leave now if we want to get to your wedding on time."

The maids and her friends scuttle out of the room, chattering eagerly amongst themselves. Byleth takes one last deep breath before following Catherine- and Shamir, waiting silently in the shadows- towards their next destination.

> _ I would like to say I was instantly cured on that day, but beloved, we both know that would be a lie. There is no permanent cure for the kind of broken that I am, only hard work and the endless love and patience you and our incredible friends and allies have so selflessly showered me with. They helped me feel human again, beloved. Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, Ashe, Annette, Mercedes, Dedue, Claude and his Deer, Seteth and Flayn, the Knights, and our allies from the Empire who dared defy Edelgard to fight for a just cause. And you, beloved. You with your constant companionship, your weekly tea sessions, your unwavering belief in me. You became my closest friend, then, and I treasured you once more, albeit in a far more real way than I had as a boy. _

Sylvain and Ingrid meet them by the carriage that will pull her to the cathedral in Fhirdiad. He whistles at her jokingly and then wraps Byleth in a hug that feels much more genuine. Ingrid rolls her eyes in good humor, and takes her husband’s hand for a brief moment before assisting Byleth into her carriage. Her four companions then each took a point, and off she went, leaving the castle behind. 

> _ And then once more I fell for you. I remember that moment as though it was just moments ago, beloved. Remember the day I was crowned King? After Cornelia's defeat? I stood upon that balcony, overlooking a kingdom I did not believe I was fit to rule. Despite what the others said to me, despite seeing the masses cheer my name and the banner of my family raised upon the marble arches of my home, I still did not quite believe. And then you, my friend, my comrade, my guiding light, told me not to cry. And as I turned and saw you standing beside me in the dawning light of day I was struck with the realization that I loved you. That I wanted you by my side for all eternity. And you looked at me and smiled so softly that it almost brought me to tears. _

Ingrid helps Byleth out of the carriage and into an antechamber off of the main foyer. It's warmer here, and there's a fire crackling away merrily as she enters the room. She opens her mouth to comment on it, but is swept into a tight hug that smells of pine trees and leather. Claude. She hugs her friend in turn, and then they part. Claude looks her up and down and beams at her, his eyes bright and shining with joy.

"I gotta say, Teach, Dimitri is one lucky guy," he teases. Byleth feels herself blushing and swats his arm playfully. Claude laughs and pulls her over to an overstuffed settee. They take a moment to catch up- Byleth wants to hear everything he's been up to in Almyra- before the door creaks open. Flayn bounces into the room, dressed far more elegantly than Byleth has ever seen her. The two women embrace tightly.

"Professor, we're ready for you," Flayn says. 

> _ The rest, my love, you know. Our defeat of Edelgard, the celebrations that followed. My bumbling proposal. The months of planning, the weeks of festivities. And now, today. Our wedding day. _
> 
> _ Beloved, if you are still reading this, know this: although I am about to swear these things to you in front of an assembly of our friends, allies, and family, I wish to give you my own vows, written out by me, rather than tradition. _
> 
> _ You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself, but while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give. You cannot command me, for I am a free person, but I shall serve you in those ways you require, and the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand. I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night, and the eyes into which I smile in the morning. I pledge to you the first bite of my meat and the first drink from my cup. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care. I shall be a shield for your back and you for mine. I shall not slander you, nor you me. I shall honor you above all others, and when we quarrel we shall do so in private and tell no strangers our grievances. This is my wedding vow to you, Byleth Eisner. This is the marriage of equals. _

Byleth takes a deep breath, and for a moment she rests a hand upon the letter pressed against her heart. She takes Claude's arm.

"I'm ready," she says.

> _ I will see you soon, beloved. _
> 
> _ Yours now and always, _
> 
> _ Dimitri _

Claude walks her into the cathedral itself. Music swells, and Byleth takes the first step down the aisle and towards her future.

**Author's Note:**

> Dimtri's vows are actually taken from traditional Celtic wedding vows.
> 
> Thanks for reading! The next chapter of A Million Dreams will be up on Friday!
> 
> In the meantime, feel free to follow me on [tumblr](https://tzubakis.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/tzubakis/).


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